Current weather

Lawyer seeks assets of missing Ga. bank director

ATLANTA — A Florida lawyer is working to untangle a complicated web of property and financial records to recover money for investors left empty-handed when a director of a south Georgia bank disappeared two months ago.

A federal court in Atlanta that's handling a complaint filed by federal financial regulators against Aubrey Lee Price earlier this month appointed Melanie Damian of Miami as the receiver in the case. She's working to identify and secure Price's assets so as much money as possible can be returned to investors.

She's working to trace bank records, property records and other leads, she said. A rambling, 22-page letter to financial regulators that authorities believe was written by Price includes several pages that detail some properties and accounts that Price owned or controlled. Damian said she's in the process of securing those properties

"What we don't know at this point is what we don't know," Damian said, indicating that there may be assets Price didn't disclose.

Price left his home in south Georgia on June 16, telling his family he was headed to Guatemala for business, authorities have said. Two days later, Price's family received letters saying he was going to Key West to board a ferry headed to Fort Myers and planned to jump off somewhere along the way to end his life. The FBI has released surveillance videos that show Price at the airport and ferry terminal in Key West the day he disappeared, wheeling a small suitcase and carrying a backpack.

The FBI and federal prosecutors in New York say Price embezzled $17 million in bank funds. The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a complaint in federal court in Atlanta saying he defrauded investors. A federal grand jury in Georgia has indicted Price on a bank fraud charge, after prosecutors claimed that his actions led to the depletion of Montgomery Bank & Trust's cash assets and reserves.

His relatives have told investigators they believe he's dead, but investigators have said circumstantial evidence suggests he's still alive.

Damian last week had a locksmith open a safe deposit box registered to Price. She found approximately 600 silver coins from different years. She had been hoping to find gold after some records and testimony from associates indicated he had purchased gold at some point, but no gold has been found.

Among the properties Price owned, Damian said, are: a shopping center in Camden County, Ga.; some vacant wetlands near Vidalia, Ga.; four condos, two houses and a commercial building on the west coast of Florida, near Bradenton; a vacant lot in Sarasota; and at least one and possibly two farms in Venezuela.

All of the properties were purchased in the last couple of years with money collected from investors, Damian said. She's working to make sure rent is being paid by tenants at some of the properties and is trying to figure out the best way to liquidate them.

Damian says it's not clear what will happen to the south Georgia home where Price's family is living, but she plans to talk to Price's wife this week.

"Right now his family is cooperating and we hope that continues," she said.